Evil and Omnipotence Essay

The core focus of this paper is on the opening of main point of the Problem of Evil by
Mackie, explaining and supporting it, and eventually presenting own reaction and evaluation of the text. The main goal is not to present simply reaction on the text, but to open, explain and understand the meaning of it.“Evil and Omnipotence” (1955) by J. L. Mackie (philosopher) has become a classic basic statement in the philosophy presenting the problem of evil (known as the suffering problem). Mackie has stated that “God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; and yet evil exists. There seems to be some contradiction between these three propositions, so that if any two of them were true the third would be false. But at the same time all three are essential parts of most theological positions: the theologian, it seems, at once must and cannot consistently adhere to all three” (Mackie 2).
Mackie claimed that there were three positions, which all could not be true at the same time. They are evil exists, God is wholly good and, eventually, God is omnipotent. Though, all three could not be legalistically contradictory and inconsistent. To prove last some principles must be given (there are two that Mackie adds): one can do everything, when it is omnipotent; evil is eliminated by something, which is wholly good, in as big amounts as it is possible. These principles seem to be plausible, because they help to take three primary principles and to deduce the contradiction from them. Mackie also supports his statement with following: despite that philosophers’ arguments for the existence of God are faulty, it does not convince that no one should believe in God; the belief in God is irrational and also lacks some rational support.
Mackie’s article is significant for the history of philosophy, thus, it strongly impressed me. Furthermore, I have found many common to mines thoughts in the text. If God is omnipotent and is wholly good, why then innocent people (especially children) suffer? If there is no evil, why people’s lives are full of injustice? Evil exists to contrast with good. The existence of God cannot be proved as well as cannot be denied, on my opinion.